Saleh Mohammadi: Olympic Gold Medalists Condemn Wrestler's Tragic Death
There is an outpouring of grief following the death of Saleh Mohammadi, a "champion wrestler" who was only 19 years old.
Mohammadi "was killed in a public hanging" by the Iranian regime due to protesting, according to Fox News. Nima Far, a human rights activist and athlete, told Fox News Digital, "His execution was a blatant political murder, part of the Islamic Republic’s pattern of targeting athletes to crush dissent and terrorize society, as seen with Navid Afkari and others executed despite international outcry."
According to CBS, Mohammadi was a "member of Iran's wrestling team." Mohammadi and two other men were the first to be executed as a result of the protests, BBC reported.
Olympic Wrestlers Condemned the Death of Saleh Mohammadi, Reports Say
In a post on X, Reza Pahlavi, the son of the last Shah of Iran, said that five men were killed, naming them as Saleh Mohammadi, Saeed Davoudi, Mehdi Ghasemi, Danial Keramati, and Mohsen Azimnia. He wrote that they have joined the "long line of Iranian heroes who paid the ultimate price for freedom."
Olympic wrestlers also spoke out.
"As someone who has traveled to Iran for wrestling twice and welcomed Iranian athletes into our country, I’ve seen firsthand the dignity and heart of the Iranian people. That’s why it’s so heartbreaking to witness a terror regime execute a teenage wrestler," Olympic gold medalist Brandon Slay told Fox News Digital.
Tyler Clary, an Olympic gold medalist swimmer, said to Fox News Digital, "As an Olympic gold medalist, I’ve spent my life around athletes who represent the very best of human discipline and freedom. What we’re seeing in Iran — the execution of a wrestler after what appears to be a sham process — is a brutal reminder of what that regime stands for. This is exactly why strong leadership matters."
According to CBS News, "Mohammadi, Mehdi Ghasemi, and Saeed Davoudi were hanged in the city of Qom, south of Tehran, after being convicted of the capital crime of waging war against God." It's not clear what Keramati and Azimnia were accused of doing.
Mohammadi, Ghasemi, and Davoudi were accused of killing two police officers during the protests in January, but human rights groups say they didn't get a fair trial and had "given confessions under torture." The page United for Iran lists Mohammadi's offense as "participation in public gatherings."
The page Iran Human Rightsalleged, "Saleh Mohammadi, a teenage protester and wrestler, has been sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for the murder of a policeman during the 8 January protest in Qom. The court rejected Saleh’s testimony that his confessions were obtained under torture, and ordered for his execution to be carried out publicly at the scene of the alleged crime."
IHRNGO Director Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam said on that website: “After the unprecedented mass killing of protesters, Islamic Republic authorities are now seeking to terrorise society through the execution of detained protesters. Saleh’s death sentence marks a dangerous escalation. Coordinated international pressure and public mobilisation can increase the political cost of the planned executions and help save Saleh Mohammadi and the many other protesters at risk.”
Saleh Mohammadi Posted Workout & Wrestling Videos on His Instagram Page
Videos shared online showed Mohammadi. An Instagram page captured his workouts, with a June caption saying, "With every step, with every pain, with every lesson and with every loss, you will become more mature..." His page contains inspirational phrases, such as, "It is possible to continue even if you are tired."
A person wrote in the comment thread, "Rest in peace our freedom fighter ❤️"
The Iran Human Rights page says Mohammadi "is a wrestler who, according to his Instagram account, won a medal at an international freestyle wrestling competition in Russia in 2024."
The page added, "Saleh, who is the first defendant in the case, has been accused of entering the fatal blow to the officer of the police special unit with a knife at the protest in Qom on 8 January. His sentence is to be carried out at the scene of the alleged crime in Qom."